FAQs Archive - Page 2 of 21 - SmartBody SmartMind

Q: I've studied the work of Dr. Moshé Feldenkrais, founder of the Feldenkrais®️ Method

I'm a certified Feldenkrais ® Practitioner, and have completed a 4-year intensive Professional Feldenkrais Teacher Training Program under the supervision of Jeffrey Haller. I've taught public classes, built a private practice in Whistler, British Columbia, and even started a video documentation project dedicated to educating more people about the wonders of this work and how it is needed in the world. Dr. Feldenkrais' principles around neuroplastic healing and awareness through movement play a massive part in my online teachings, in-person workshops, and my own personal movement practices.

Q: I've studied extensively under Kathy Kain and Stephen Terrell within the body of work called Somatic Practice

I've completed the Touch Skills Training (TST) and Somatic Resilience and Regulation Training (SRR) and have attended speciality workshops throughout the years. I maintain active communication with these stellar teachers to help further my learning and the learning of my mentees and clients.

Q: I'm a Somatic Experiencing® (SE) Practitioner

I started my SE studies in 2008 and went as far as one can go in this domain (without becoming a trainer of the method). I've assisted at the basic SE trainings as well as numerous Master Classes that were exclusively taught by the founder of SE, Dr. Peter Levine. Master Class topics I'm well versed in include: working with near-death and anesthesia states; working with anger, depression, healthy aggression and life force energy; working with syndromal representations (such as autoimmune disorders) in conjunction with the polyvagal theory. I regularly mentor and offer consultation to my colleagues within the Somatic Experiencing practices.

Q: 04. What do the Neurosensory Exercises look like?

The Neurosensory Audio Lessons vary greatly in terms of the ground they cover, but they all share some common themes. All of them are designed to help you get into your body and nervous system in a gentle, often profoundly different, kind of way. They all encourage development of both attention and intention – two of the most powerful tools we have for working with our system. And they are sequenced in such a way that they all build on each other, to support the greatest possible growth and change. They support you in exploring such things as the Body-Mind-Environment-Connection, various bodily systems, such as the joints, and what we call ‘diaphragms,’ as well as helping you get in touch with and express things that may be hiding in your system, like anger, grief, and other common emotions associated with unresolved trauma. That only scratches the surface though – there is a LOT in these exercises. The Neurosensory Exercises vary in length from eight to 45 minutes. Here is a vlog of Irene’s with more info about the Neurosensory Exercises.

Q: 18. Will I get overwhelmed by my past trauma when I do this work?

This is another tricky question to answer! It’s important to begin with a mutual definition of “overwhelmed.” And to consider “past” and “present” time. Basically, overwhelmed means “too much.” It’s the most basic description of trauma: Something that was, or is, “too much” for our nervous system to process. Historically, this is the case with past trauma, as survival energies and emotions were too much to handle at the time, and became trapped energy. We work very specifically and diligently in SBSM with Attention and Intention. These are two very powerful practices! We also build a solid foundation of “here and now” awareness. When we start turning our attention to our body, and more specifically, our nervous system, with the intention of healing our trauma, we may inevitably feel things that have historically been overwhelming. However with the SBSM education and practices embedded in awareness, you can be more prepared and able to avoid becoming overwhelmed now. In SmartBody SmartMind™ we take many steps to prepare you for this with education, so you can understand what is happening in your experience, which generally makes it less scary, and by guiding you slowly from the basic, resource building work, to deeper investigations of the system. That being said, when you work with the nervous system, there’s no way to predict with 100% accuracy how different people (and nervous systems) will respond to each lesson. For example, some people may experience increased feelings of safety and presence from a lesson intended to support resource building and containment, and that same lesson may bring on high activation or shutdown for others.

Q: 17. Can kids do this work?

It depends on their age. Older kids, like ages 14-18, probably could do this work if they wanted to, though not many teenagers are very interested in self-development! Younger kids, no, probably not. What ALL kids can benefit from, though, is their parents doing the work! When we, as parents, start on this journey, and learn about our physiology – what’s going on inside us, and are able to understand why we behave, think, and feel the way we do – that can give us so much more insight into why our kids behave, think, and feel how they do. As we learn to work with our own body and mind in this nervous system-based way, we can learn how to help them. And even more powerful and profound is the way that our own increased regulation can automatically increase our kids’ regulation. It just happens! As we become safer inside ourselves, they can feel safer around us. As our stress goes down, so can theirs. It’s really pretty miraculous how just one person doing this trauma healing work can positively affect their entire family system. For more on this, check out this video Irene made addressing this topic.

Q: 16. I work with clients, but I myself am struggling and unwell. Will this help me?

YES it can! There are so many helpers, healers, and practitioners out there who got into their work because they were unwell, and then managed to get better and wanted to help others, but who still struggle with persistent symptoms, low energy, or a tendency to burn out. Often, this is because the things they found to help them weren’t getting to the root cause, but rather were more based in symptom management. So they continue to go up and down in their health and well-being. If this is you, then THIS can be the piece you are missing. When you do this work and restore health and well-being from the ground up by regulating your nervous system, your whole world can change. Not only can your health improve, so can the health of your clients, because you may naturally start to bring your new skills, increased knowledge, and your own nervous system regulation into your practice. We truly can only help others to the degree to which we, ourselves, are healed. So start with YOU. This program can help you do that!

Q: 15. Can this help with mental illness?

This program is not intended to treat or cure any disease or illness, including any diagnosed mental illness. That said, anyone can benefit from increased nervous system regulation. A person needs to be well enough, and organized enough in their thinking to watch and absorb the education, and do the practices. So, someone presenting with a very extreme symptom like paranoid schizophrenia will not be able to benefit from this program, whereas someone struggling with a representation like OCD, anxiety, or depression, most likely will. As long as one is well enough that they can show up, put in the time, and comprehend what is happening, they will likely benefit.

Q: 14. I won't have internet during part of the program. Should I wait?

If you will not have access to the internet for the entire length of the program, or a big majority of it, then yes, you should probably wait for the next round. However, if it will only be a week, or a few weeks, then that shouldn’t be a problem. There are many circumstances that can arise that make it hard to get into the program anyway; internet or no internet, life happens! This is why everything in the program is downloadable. Also, again! We highly encourage everyone to go at their own pace. So if that means downloading the lessons that have already been released onto your laptop, and doing them while away from the internet, that’s fine (in fact, repeating lessons is something that we have seen again and again to be invaluable, as you may find new and different things each time), and if it means putting the whole thing on hold for a bit and then coming back, that’s also fine.

I’ve studied the work of Dr. Moshé Feldenkrais, founder of the Feldenkrais®️ Method

I’ve studied extensively under Kathy Kain and Stephen Terrell within the body of work called Somatic Practice

I’m a Somatic Experiencing® (SE) Practitioner

04. What do the Neurosensory Exercises look like?

19. Will I get overwhelmed by my past trauma when I do this work?

18. Will I get overwhelmed by my past trauma when I do this work?

17. Can kids do this work?

16. I work with clients, but I myself am struggling and unwell. Will this help me?

15. Can this help with mental illness?

14. I won’t have internet during part of the program. Should I wait?